Aquarium of the Pacific near Beach?

[DisneylandOrBust]

So I am planning a trip to Disneyland and on the first day driving their we plan on making a pit stop and visit the Aquarium of the Pacific... they say it's a good "half day" thing to do? Is that true? And other than that is it walking distance to Long Beach.. like the actual beach? Or are we going to have to get in the car and drive some more to get there?

I also get really good discount tickets for the Aquarium so it won't be too bad of a loss if it's lame... I keep reading good and bad reviews about it.

Thanks!!
Emily

 

[LavenderPeach]

I've been to the Aquarium several times and have never seen the actual beach in long beach around there. There is a path right next to the water but no beach that you can see from there. That's not to say it's not close by but it isn't obvious where it is. I'm not sure if the beach is within walking distance or not but there might be some sort of public transportation to take you closer to the beach if it's too far. Here's a website I found that talks about different beaches in California: http://www.beachcalifornia.com/longbch.html
It sounds like Long Beach (the beach) is a little hard to find.

Also, the Aquarium is nice. I don't think it's anything spectacular but it's a nice little outing, especially if you got a good deal on the tickets. I agree that half a day is probably enough but there are shops and restaurants around that area too.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[PHXscuba]

It's worth the trip, especially if you got a good deal on the tickets. The food is really pricey there (like any other captive audience place), so I'd try to eat before/after. There is an "entertainment mall" across the street with shops and stuff and a Ferris wheel.

Be sure to see the diver-in-tank shows the aquarium has -- we really enjoyed them. When we went in June with 4 kids ages 4-13 we spent about 4 hours including lunch.

As for the beach, the Aquarium is really in the harbor/marina area. Given the quality of nearby beaches, it would probably be worth it to hop in the car and drive a little ways to Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, or Newport Beach.

PHXscuba

 

[snickerboo]

Yes, it's more of a half day thing and, no, it's not right at the beach itself. It is by the water but, despite there being a strip of sand there (they're trying to encourage natural sand dunes), there's no beach. If you walk up a little ways, you can see the Queen Mary accross the Bay and there's a lighthouse and a marina. There are several chain restaurants within walking distance of the aquarium (ie: Bubba Gump Shrimp is accross the street). For us, we ate at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles afterwards (fattening but delicious soul food!) then we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to where the real beaches are. It wasn't that far to Huntington, Newport and Balboa. We ended up doing our beaching between the Balboa and Newport piers.

This is the area directly accross from the Aquarium. The sand is deceiving; it's not actually beach. They've just brought some sand up by the walkway. It's marina area there. Over the grassy hill is a little waterway accross which you can see the Queen Mary docked.